WEEK SEVEN- NOT JUST FOR TEENS
Assignment 2 -Who is Reading Young Adult ?
The articles chosen for our assignment are fascinating. I had no idea that 55 per cent of those people reading YA were over 18 years of age, and that the largest group is ages 30-44. This makes me want to investigate further. I am wondering if the Hunger Games and Twilight phenomenon account for much of this-- or if there is another factor, such as easier material, vocabulary and plot? For instance, there is a very strong argument that there has been a severe decrease in American reading vocabulary over the last 40 years (the Elephant in the living room). Back in 1999 the American Publishers Assn. attributed this to 14 year olds' reliance on TV and Internet over text-rich books, newspapers and magazines between 1949 and 1999.
One way to look at this is to compare Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys novels written between 1926 and 2000. These books were always aimed at the same audience, but take a look at the difference in the texts and vocabulary !
The other side of the argument might be that writers feel they have more freedom to experiment with storyline and topic than mass-marketed adult fiction, which is almost always formulaic. This seems to be especially true with Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, where some of the best writers in those genres seem to be writing for Young Adults. These are genres which also seem to have a high WOW factor for readers (Mind expanding, new possibilities, and surprise).
IMHO, I sincerely hope that there will be more "paranormal fatigue" if such fatigue includes zombies, vampires, werewolves, etc. I think writers have taken this genre about as far as it can go. This phenomenon reminds me of the old network television shows. If a police or hospital show was a success one season, every single network had a wannabe program on prime time the next season. Even teens eventually realize that this is pure commercial marketing and become jaded about the product. They see that the superficial elements have trumped the content.
Monty, I also read the Who is Reading Young Adult? article, and was not really surprised by the market research. I have long believed that our teen print and audio collections are used by non-teen readers. Particularly, since so many older teens have often moved on to adult.I agree with you about the paranormal fatigue, but I do think some of it is self-induced. Our narrow focus on one sub-genre is a disservice to so many wonderful books in that collection and really limits our readers' advisory possibilities.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't surprised by the market research either. I'm one of those adults over 30 that tends to gravitate to the teen books. Publishers do tend to find something that work and then run with it. This is true with other entertainment platforms. How many Comic books have been made into movies lately? When flipping through the channels the other day, just about 1/2 of the programs on at that time were "reality" based shows.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in college (about 17 years ago), I took an education course in which we looked at an 8th grade text book from the beginning of the 20th century and compared the reading level of that book with simular book from the 1990s. The lexile level of the early 1900s book was on par with college texts. It was an eye opener.
As for your comment on paramormal fatigue, it may happen. It just makes me want to get a bumper sticker that says something along the lines "I liked vampires before they were cool!
Well, I guess I am the oddball who did not realize the no. of adults reading YA. But 55%? Really? I'd like to confirm that their statistical method was valid.
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